I Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to apparatus for recovering oil which collects on the surface of a liquid. More specifically, this invention pertains to an oil recovery apparatus which includes an endless belt for collecting oil from the surface of the liquid and means for releasing the collected oil from the belt.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, numerous apparatus have been developed to skim oil or the like floating on a layer of liquid such as water. An example of such is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,394 to Brill, et al., dated Feb. 8, 1972. The Brill patent teaches a generally circular rigid loop which is rotated in and and out of a pool of water to attract oil. The oil is squeezed out of the loop by a pair of opposing disks. Another example of an oil skimming apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,545 to Grabbe, et al. dated Apr. 18, 1967. In the Grabbe patent, oil is removed from the water surface by passing an endless conveyor belt through the water surface with the belt picking up the oil and advancing to a cleaning station where the oil is removed.
Oil skimming apparatus are commonly found in the machine tool and waste-water industries to separate floating waste oil from fluids. It is desirable to separate the oil in order to recover usable fluids and to avoid environmentally unsatisfactory consequences of discharging fluids mixed with waste oil. The standards by which oil skimming apparatus are judged include the rate at which the apparatus can remove oil from a liquid (measured in volume per unit time), the degree of oil separation (i.e. the absence of the base liquid in the separated oil) and the ease of maintenance. While the prior art provides apparatus for separating oil from water and other liquids, there is an increasing need to develop an oil skimming apparatus which provides for an ever increased oil removal rate while insuring minimum mixture of the oil and the base liquid in the separated oil. The absence of the base liquid in the separated oil is particularly important where it is desirable to reuse the separated oil.